The House of Representatives Committee on University Education has summoned the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abdullahi Yusuf Ribadu, over the dissolution of some university governing councils and the dismissal of vice-chancellors.
Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Abubakar Hassan Fulata, disclosed this on Tuesday after a meeting on a petition against the suspended Vice-Chancellor of Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education (AIFUE), Owerri, Prof. Stella Lemchi.
The petition, signed by Prof. Kingsley Ikebudu and Prof. Joshua Umeifekwem on behalf of the Concerned Interviewed Professors for the Post of Vice-Chancellor, AIFUE, alleged that Lemchi was ineligible for the role.
It claimed that she was never a staff member of Imo State University (IMSU) and that the course she specialized in was not offered at the institution.
However, the Registrar of IMSU, Dr. Julius Ozuagwu, dismissed the allegations, stating that Lemchi had been appointed as a Reader/Associate Professor at IMSU and was later promoted to Professor through due process.
He added that she had lectured in tertiary institutions for over a decade, meeting the NUC’s criteria for academic promotions.
On the claim that Lemchi’s specialization was non-existent at IMSU, Ozuagwu said the petitioners were being “mischievous.”
According to him, IMSU had introduced a new course aimed at equipping youths with self-employment skills, which necessitated the recruitment of experts in the field.
In her response, Lemchi stated that all provosts of the five federal colleges of education upgraded to universities, including AIFUE, were appointed acting vice-chancellors.
She noted that while some of them held only PhDs, she was a professor, making claims about her ineligibility baseless.
“Yes, I was a Chief Lecturer for over 11 years when I applied for the position of Professor. By 2005, when I became a Senior Lecturer at Alvan FCE, Prof. Ikebudu was still an undergraduate. I obtained my PhD in 2006 and had spent 18 years post-Senior Lecturer before applying for a professorship,” she said.
She also stated that due process was followed in her appointment as the first substantive Vice-Chancellor of AIFUE, with representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, the Federal Character Commission, and other stakeholders monitoring the process.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ngozi Olehi, told the committee that there was no law prohibiting an acting vice-chancellor from being appointed as a substantive vice-chancellor in Nigerian universities.
Following the hearing, the committee resolved to summon the Minister of Education, the NUC Executive Secretary, and other relevant authorities to address the dissolution of university councils and the sacking of vice-chancellors.
Fulata emphasized the need to ensure job security for university personnel, including council members and vice-chancellors, stressing that the committee would engage stakeholders to resolve the matter.
